This article is originally found on BusinessWeek.com
In January 2002, a Canadian actor named Andrew Olcott got a
call from his agent. She wanted to discuss an unusual opportunity. Would
he be willing, she asked, to audition for a TV commercial for a
“natural male enhancement” pill?
Olcott thought it over. He was
new to the commercial acting business, and though doing a spot for a
penis pill was a far cry from doing Shakespeare, it didn’t seem any
worse than, say, pitching deodorant. For years, he had worked primarily
as a visual artist. He could use the gig. Besides, all auditions are
long shots. Even if he got the job, he thought, most TV spots come and
go with little fanfare. It seemed likely that nobody would ever notice.The agent told Olcott what she knew about the audition. You couldn’t show “natural male enhancement” on TV, so the campaign’s creative director, Randy Spear, had dreamed up a character inspired by silent film stars, who would convey the feeling of male enhancement without saying a word. He would just smile.
Find and read the rest of this great article:
www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-27/branded-for-life
